Rockets headed to final . . . Portland's Drive for Five ends . . . Santa Claus dies in Philly

SUNDAY’S GAME:

In Portland, the Kelowna Rockets erased a 3-0 first-period deficit and went on to beat the Winterhawks, 8-4. . . . The Rockets won the Western Conference final, 4-2, closing it out with three straight victories. . . . Kelowna will travel to Brandon to open the WHL championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup with games on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . The final will be played using a 2-3-2 format. . . . The Rockets last appeared in

the WHL final in the spring of 2009 when they beat the Calgary Hitmen in six games. . . . The Winterhawks were attempting to reach their fifth straight WHL final. . . . Portland led 3-0 before the first period was 14 minutes old, on goals from F Chase De Leo, his sixth, D Adam Henry (5) and De Leo, again. . . . De Leo drew an assist on Henry’s goal, for a three-point period. . . . D Madison Bowey scored his first of two goals to get the Rockets on the board at 14:45 of the first. . . . Kelowna F Dillon Dube, with his third, at 4:12, and Bowey, with a shorthanded goal, at 12:18, got the Rockets even. . . . Bowey has seven goals in these playoffs. . . . F Tyson Baillie gave Kelowna its first lead with his ninth goal, at 6:58 of the third. . . . Portland D Layne Viveiros tied it with his first goal at 8:12. . . . The Rockets then took control with goals from F Justin Kirkland, his second, at 10:35 and F Cole Linaker, his fourth, at 12:18. . . . Dube added his second of the game into an empty net with 1:32 to play and F Chance Braid got another empty-netter, his third goal of the playoffs, before game’s end. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle, the first start in Games 4 and 5, got the hook after being beaten three times on eight shots. Michael Herringer came on to earn the victory, stopping 30 of 31 shots. . . . Portland G Adin Hill made 34 saves. . . . Baillie, F Gage Quinney, F Nick Merkley and D Cole Martin each had two assists for the Rockets. Martin was plus-5. . . . Dube added an assist to his two goals. . . . Portland F Nic Petan set a WHL record by playing in his 88th career playoff game. F Shay Stephenson (Red Deer, 2000-04) had held the record, at 87. . . . Petan had two assists as he set a franchise record by running his playoff point streak to 17 games. The previous record (16) was set by F Brendan Leipsic last season. . . . F Paul Bittner had two assists for Portland, while De Leo added one to his two goals. . . . Each team was 0-for-3 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 8,490. . . . Hodges Heroes has a look right here at some of the numbers and other things from Friday’s Game 5.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings and Kelowna Rockets, the WHL’s two best teams in the regular season, will play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. . . . That series will follow a 2-3-2 format, opening with games in Brandon on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . The Wheat Kings have home-ice advantage because they finished with 114 regular-season points (53-11-8), while the Rockets had 112 (53-13-6). . . . The last time the top two regular-season teams met in the WHL final was 2003 when the Rockets (51-14-7) beat the Red Deer Rebels (50-17-5) in six games. . . . Cody Nickolet points out via Twitter that “Brandon and Kelowna were also the top two WHL teams in goal differential during the regular season, too. Kelowna +122, Brandon +121.” . . . Each of Brandon’s three playoff series has gone five games; Kelowna has played a four, a five and a six, in that order. . . . The Wheat Kings and Rockets met once this season, with Kelowna skating to a 6-1 victory at home on Oct. 25. F Nick Merkley had a goal and three assists in that one. . . . Going into the final, Portland F Nic Petan leads all playoff scorers with 28 points, two more than Calgary F Adam Tambellini. . . . Petan and Merkley lead in assists (18), while Tambellini and Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand each had 13 goals. . . . Kelowna F Leon Draisaitl, who had one assist last night, is the leading active scorer, with 21 points. He had points in 13 of Kelowna’s 15 games. . . . F John Quenneville is Brandon’s top scorer, with 19 points.
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During the first intermission of Sunday’s game, Regan Bartel, the play-by-play voice of the Kelowna Rockets, played an interview with Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey. One of the topic of conversations dealt with the use of cut-resistant socks in the WHL. This comes after Rockets F Tyrell Goulborne needed surgery to repair damage to his left calf after he suffered a skate cut during Game 5 of their series with the Portland Winterhawks on Friday night. . . . Doerksen told Bartel that the wearing of such socks has been discussed but that it is up to individual teams and players whether players wear them. . . . Shortly after the interview played, Greg Mayer, the Regina Pats’ athletic therapist, tweeted: “It's mandatory for all Pats players to wear cut resistant socks. Saved two players this year from Achilles' tendon injuries!” . . . And then Rogan Dean, the Edmonton Oil Kings’ head equipment manager, tweeted: “It's mandatory for everybody to wear them on the @EdmOilKings also. Has saved many players the last few years. #Kevlar.”
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It was in December 1968 when fans of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles booed Santa Claus. Seriously! Well, Frank Olivo, the man who was Santa Claus that day, has died. There is more right here.
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In the OHL, the Oshawa Generals beat the host North Bay Battalion 2-1 on Sunday to win that semifinal series, 4-2. . . . The Generals will meet the Erie Otters in the OHL final. . . . The QMJHL final features the Rimouski Oceanic and Quebec Remparts. Both of those teams are in the Memorial Cup because the Remparts are the host team.
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Rob Sandrock, who played in the WHL with the Spokane Chiefs, Swift Current Broncos, Medicine Hat Tigers and Kelowna Rockets (1994-99), is working to acquire a junior B franchise in the Kootenay International junior league for his hometown of Williams Lake, B.C. The Williams Lake Tribune has more right here.
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.sittin w PDX media legends @kerryeggers @dwightjaynes and Scooter Vrooman @pdxwinterhawks game 6 vs @kelownarockets pic.twitter.com/hWv7TQLcqg

— ron callan (@roncallan) May 3, 2015

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Kris Russell (Medicine Hat, 2003-07) signed a lockout contract with TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had six goals and six assists  in 55 games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues last season. Russell is scheduled to arrive in Finland today and will make his debut either in tonight's game at HPK Hämeenlinna or in TPS' game at home on Saturday against HIFK Helsinki. The TPS press release ends with the club thanking two of their major sponsors for helping them sign Russell. . . .
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) has signed a contract until the end of November with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga) after a  successful try-out. Rumpel, who started his try-out last weekend, had one assist in one game with Trnava (Slovakia, 1.Liga) to start the season. Last season, Rumpel had three assists in two games with Trnava before signing with Frederikshavn (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga), where he had seven goals and 12 assists in 30 games.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, brought down the hammer on Wednesday afternoon.
Now we’ll see if the players are paying attention.
Kale Kessy, a forward with the Medicine Hat Tigers who turns 20 on Dec. 4, provided Doerksen with the opportunity in a game against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Kessy drew a major and game misconduct for a headshot on Lethbridge D Ryan Pilon, who is listed as being out indefinitely.
With Kessy already having served 14 games in suspensions from six separate incidents, Doerksen had a repeat offender with whom to deal. And he did just that, as he suspended Kessy, a fourth-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft, for a dozen games.
Doerksen wrote in his reasons that “the checking to the head penalty was for an elbow to the head” and pointed out that “the opponent was injured on the play.”
Kessy met with Doerksen in the WHL’s Calgary office for 45 minutes before the decision was announced.
“I respect the league’s decision and what they have done,” Kessy told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “At the end of the day, they are the ones making the decisions. You just have to be responsible for your actions.”
Kessy will be eligible to return on Oct. 26 for a game in Calgary against the Hitmen.
Here’s the rest of Kessy’s rap sheet:
One game for a game misconduct at Lethbridge, March 10, 2012.
Four games for a checking-from-behind major at Red Deer, Nov. 26, 2011.
Five games for a checking-from-behind double minor at Victoria, Oct. 6, 2011.
One game for a checking-from-behind double minor vs. Brandon, March 26, 2011.
Two games for a checking-from-behind double minor vs. Lethbridge, Dec. 18, 2010.
One game for a boarding major vs. Seattle, Oct. 31, 2009.
If you were wondering, this is the longest suspension handed out by the WHL office since it hit Tri-City Americans F Brendan Shinnimin with 12 games for an ugly hit on Saskatoon Blades F Josh Nicholls on Oct. 6, 2010.
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In the same game as Kessy’s hit on Pilon, Lethbridge D Spencer Galbraith was given a headshot major and game misconduct for a hit on Medicine Hat F Hunter Shinkaruk.
The WHL has since changed that to a charging major for which there won’t be a suspension.
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The Vancouver Giants have acquired F Trevor Cheek, 20, from the Calgary Hitmen for two bantam draft picks — a fourth-rounder in 2013 and a fifth-rounder in 2014. . . . Cheek, from Vancouver, Wash., is into his third WHL season. He had 49 points, including 23 goals, and 75 penalty minutes with Calgary last season. . . . Cheek is expected to play Friday when the Giants entertain the Everett Silvertips. . . . The move gets each team to the maximum three 20-year-olds. Cheek joins D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen and D John Neibrandt in Vancouver. . . . The Hitmen have F Brooks Macek, F Cody Sylvester and D Spencer Humphries on their roster.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have picked up F Dakota Conroy, 18, from the Victoria Royals for a seventh-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Conroy, an Edmonton native, was dealt to Victoria by the Brandon Wheat Kings last season in a swap that had F Kevin Sundher go the other way as the centrepiece. . . . Conroy had 10 points, including seven goals, in 30 games with the Royals after putting up eight points, four of them goals, in 37 games with Brandon.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have assigned F Ryley Lindgren, 16, to the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. Lindgren, from East St. Paul, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . Brandon now is carrying 25 players, including eight defencemen and 15 forwards. . . .
James Shewaga of the Brandon Sun reports that the Wheat Kings “have sold 2,540 season tickets, down from last season’s total of 2,973.” . . .
The Kootenay Ice had a familiar face on the ice with them at practice on Wednesday. Tom Renney, who is from Cranbrook, was helping head coach Ryan McGill keep things moving. Renney is the associate coach with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, so has nothing but time on his hands these days. . . .
D Austin Adam, 17, of the Everett Silvertips is out for up to six weeks with a broken hand. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Adam “suffered a freak injury during practice Tuesday when his hand got caught in the partition between two panels of glass.” . . .
The AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm has acquired the rights to F Mike Forsyth, 20, from the Camrose Kodiaks for future considerations. Forsyth, who is from Calgary, had 15 points in 72 games with the Victoria Royals last season. . . . 
The Spokane hockey community is in mourning following the death Wednesday of Bob LaRue, the father of former WHL referee Dennis LaRue. Bob was a retired U.S. Air Force non-commissioned officer. In fact, Dennis, the oldest of five children, was born in Savannah, Ga., in the Hunter AFB hospital. Bob was a long-time supporter of the Spokane hockey community. . . .
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NOTES FROM WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
F Brenden Walker, 20, of the Saskatoon Blades played in his 200th career regular-season game last night in Brandon. The Blades dropped a 9-6 decision to the Wheat Kings in what was Walker’s first game against his old team. He was dealt to Saskatoon in May. . . . You just know that both coaches, Brandon’s Dwayne Gylywoychuk and Saskatoon’s Lorne Molleken, were saying the same thing after this one: “We have a lot of things to work on.” . . . The Blades actually tied the game 6-6 when F Josh Nicholls scored at 6:46 of the third period while his guys were two-men short. . . . Late in the second period, Nicholls came up empty on a penalty shot against G Corbin Boes. . . .
G Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots for his first WHL shutout as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Hurricanes 3-0 in Lethbridge. . . . G Ty Rimmer stopped 57 shots for the Hurricanes, who trailed just 1-0 after two periods, despite being outshot 43-14. . . . Jarry, who backs up Laurent Brossoit, was making his first appearance this season. He got into 14 games last season, going 8-2-1, 2.93, .894. . . .
F Morgan Klimchuk’s second goal of the game, at 2:09 of OT, gave the visiting Regina Pats a 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos have played three games this season and have led 3-0 in each of them. However, they have lost two of those games, both in OT.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Brad Hornung (@Bradhornung): “Had a ‘brush with greatness’ today as I was cruising through Wascana Park. A chance meeting with NHL legend Mike Bossy.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
It seems that lightning has hit the outhouse in Invermere, B.C., where GM/head coach Marc Ward and assistant coach Jan Kascak have resigned from the junior B Columbia Valley Rockies of the Kootenay International Junior League. . . . The Rockies picked up seven points in 52 games last season under Ward, but are off to a 3-2-0-1 start (W-L-T-OTL) this season. . . . Ross Bidinger, the director of hockey operations, has taken over as GM/head coach, and there now are four assistant coaches – Kirk, Scott and Wade Dubielewicz and Dave Tomalty. . . . "We wish both (Ward) and (Kascak) well … but we have no reservations about what we've put into place over the last 24 hours,” Rockies vice-president Graeme Anderson told Steve Jessel of the Invermere Valley Echo. "I'm extremely confident that you're going to see the Rockies performing as well as they have done, and better."
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You may be aware that the family of the late Derek Boogaard has filed a lawsuit against the NHLPA. Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times writes that the lawsuit “could lead to some novel and tumultuous territory for the sport.” . . . Read this right here in its entirety and perhaps you will gain some understanding as to why some people like David Branch are moving to cut down on, if not completely eradicate, fighting in hockey.

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This column appeared in Wednesday's Kamloops Daily News:

In the days before the WHL’s regular season opened, the league summoned its general managers and head coaches to Calgary for a meeting.
During said gabfest, there was much talk about the respect factor, or lack of same, between opposing players on the ice, about not hitting players who find themselves, for whatever reason, in vulnerable positions, about headshots and about hits from behind.
Guy Charron, the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers, put together a video presentation showing, among other things, players who were in vulnerable positions absorbing hits. He didn’t have to dig too deeply to find examples of players not protecting themselves and of some bad hits. He looked at one game and found instances of both on the first two shifts.
After the meeting, the coaches, who all are in agreement that these hits have to be removed from the game, returned home and immediately set about spreading the word.
Unfortunately, it seems to have fallen on some deaf ears.
In the regular season’s first 22 games, referees handed out 13 checking-from-behind minors and one major. There also were three minors and three majors for checks to the head.
There were other instances when what could have been checking-from-behind penalties were called boarding. There was a checking-from-behind incident in a Friday night game in Kamloops that was ignored by the officials.
And when the weekend was done, nine players were awaiting possible suspensions, each of them having been tossed from a game for one indiscretion or another.
These players included Mathew Dumba, a defenceman with the Red Deer Rebels who was a first-round selection by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL’s 2012 draft, and forward Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks, a second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2011 who is seen as a potential WHL scoring champ this season.
On Friday night, forward Andrew Johnson of the Moose Jaw Warriors won a game by scoring on a penalty shot in overtime. The next night, he was ejected with a major penalty for charging.
In Medicine Hat, Tigers forward Kale Kessy, who turns 20 in December, took out Lethbridge Hurricanes defenceman Ryan Pilon, who turns 16 next month. Pilon was the third pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft. Kessy was given a major and game misconduct for the headshot; Pilon didn’t return to the game and may be out for a while.
“We lose one of the top young defencemen in the league to a headshot elbow,” Rich Preston, the Hurricanes’ general manager and head coach, told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “What are you going to do?
“You have to try and take that out of the game.”
Later in the same game, Lethbridge defenceman Spencer Galbraith dropped Medicine Hat forward Hunter Shinkaruk, who is likely to be an early selection in the NHL’s 2013 draft, with a headshot and was tossed from the proceedings.
“It is frustrating as a league and as a coach,” Shaun Clouston, the Tigers’ GM/head coach, told Steinke. “We had a meeting in Calgary, the coaches and the GMs.
“It is just something that we have to keep stressing to the players. We have to have a little bit more respect for each other and stay away from those headshots and stay away from the dangerous plays.”
Charron, for his part, sounds at least a bit frustrated.
“It’s up to us as coaches,” Charron said. “There are no other people to blame. There are certain things about encouraging the physical play for our team. We always say we have to finish our checks. . . . I tell the players, ‘If you see his number and you hit a player you’re apt to get a penalty and perhaps injure a player.’
“Just tell your players, ‘I want you to be physical but if you hit a guy from behind expect to be penalized. Perhaps you will injure a player and then you’re going to be suspended.’ ”
Kamloops defenceman Tyler Hansen was hit with two checking-from-behind minors on Friday night. On Saturday, he took an inadvertent shot to the head and ended up being taken to hospital in an ambulance. The game is physical enough, then, without players drilling other players from behind.
“It’s my role to be physical and tough but there are rules in this league that protect guys,” Hansen said of the two penalties he took. “When you see those numbers you have to steer (the player) into the boards and rub him out; you can’t put all your weight into him and try to finish him.”
Charron added: “Our thing is to make the players aware. But it’s an intense game. I tell our players, ‘If you see the number, don’t hit him.’ We have to teach them how to play to avoid those injuries. We constantly say, ‘Now it’s one hand on your stick, stick on puck and ride them off.’
“We don’t want our players to be hurt. We understand that these things need to be addressed.”
As of Tuesday evening, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, had doled out 11 games in suspensions to six different players. There may be more to come, perhaps even today.
This is just like when you’re building a deck with hammer and nails and that first nail keeps bending. You can’t quit. You have to keep hammering away.

(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, gdrinnan.blogspot.com and twitter.com/gdrinnan.)

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The man started clearing the backlog on his desk on Monday.
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s hanging judge, handed out 11 games in suspensions to six players.
F Justin Kirsch of the Moose Jaw Warriors got hit the hardest. He drew a four-game suspension for a checking-from-behind major against the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Friday. He sat out Saturday’s game in Swift Current so has three games left to serve. Kirsch hit Swift Currrent D Reece Scarlett, who left the ice on a stretcher and is out week-to-week.
D Mathew Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels got a two-game suspension for his headshot on Hitmen F Joe Kornelson in Calgary on Friday. Dumba didn’t play Sunday in Edmonton so has one game left in the suspension.
D Joel Edmundson of the Warriors got hit with two games for fighting off a faceoff against Swift Current on Friday. He, too, has served one game.
F Josh Nicholls of the Saskatoon Blades (charging major) and F Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks (cross-checking major) each got one-game suspensions.
Also drawing a one-game suspension was F Zach McPhee of the Everett Silvertips who drew a game misconduct for an unspecified reason against the visiting Prince George Cougars on Saturday.
Meanwhile, D Kale Kessy of the Medicine Hat Tigers drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct in a game against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. He hit Lethbridge D Ryan Pilon, who left the game and didn’t return.
At the same time, there have yet to be suspensions (or the waiving of penalties) for Moose Jaw F Andrew Johnson (charging major), Lethbridge D Spencer Galbraith (headshot major) and Prince George F Jari Erricson (headshot major).
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The Vancouver Giants dealt F Matt Bellerive to the Red Deer Rebels for a third-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Bellerive, a second-round selection by Vancouver in the 2009 draft, left the Giants and requested a trade after being a healthy scratch from two weekend games.
Bellerive, who turns 18 on Dec. 7, had 14 points in 45 games last season.
“He’s a guy who is still a younger player,” Jesse Wallin, Red Deer’s head coach, told Greg Meachem, the sports editor of the Red Deer Advocate. “We feel he has lots of potential to break out yet. He went through two seasons in Vancouver and from what I understand he left the team out of frustration.
“He’s a guy who we hope can find his way with a fresh start, a new environment. He’s a hard-nosed kid who has some ability as well. He was a good scorer at the bantam and midget levels and we’re hoping that with a change of scenery here and a fresh start that he can start to produce and be a guy who can definitely be a top-six forward for us and provide some offence.”
Bellerive is expected to play for the Rebels on Friday against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers.
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JUST NOTES:
The Prince Albert Raiders lost D Zach Hodder, 19, with an apparent shoulder injury on Saturday. If that’s the case, it’s really too bad as Hodder as a history of shoulder problems. He was the 20th overall selection in t he 2008 bantam draft, taken by the Vancouver Giants. He was never able to find a spot there and then made a brief stop last season in Saskatoon with the Blades. Reports out of Prince Albert had him playing quite well. . . .
The Swift Current Broncos have assigned D Zack Gonek, 16, to the midget AAA St. Albert, Alta., Raiders. Gonek, the 13th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft, got into five exhibition games with the Broncos and had 13 penalty minutes. He had 21 points and 91 penalty minutes with the midget   AA St. Albert Flyers last season. . . .
D Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks and D Cody Corbett of the Edmonton Oil Kings will miss weekend WHL games as they travel to Buffalo to play in Saturday’s All-American Prospect Game. There will be 40 of the top American players in the game, with teams coached by Phil Housley and Rob McClanahan. . . . Corbett is on Team Housley, while Jones is on Team McClanahan. . . .
D Antoine Corbin of the Prince Albert Raiders and F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers will be leaving their teams this week and reporting to the training camp of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. Both are 20 years of age so are eligible to sign and play in the AHL.
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Dwight Mullins is the new head coach of the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals. Mullins (Lethbridge, Calgary, Saskatoon, 1982-88)) spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Central league’s Allen, Texas, Americans. He lost that job when former NHLers Ed Belfour, Craig Ludwig and Mike Modano became involved in the Allen ownership group and hired Steve Martenson as head coach. . . . In Elmira, Mullins replaces Pat Bingham (Kamloops, New Westminster, 1985-89), who stepped down a couple of weeks ago.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Mark Cuban (@mcuban), the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, after watching Monday Night Football from Seattle: “I would love to see what my reaction would be if a Mavs game ended like #MNF. #Expensive #NBAtime”


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On Monday, the busiest man in hockey won’t be NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr or NHL commish Gary Bettman. No, it will be Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s chief disciplinarian.
He will already have spent the weekend watching video. He’ll watch some more on Monday and then he’ll make the phone calls.
After Friday’s games, Doerksen hit four players with ‘tbd’ suspensions. All four are veteran players who play key roles with their teams:
D Joel Edmundson, Moose Jaw, major, fighting off faceoff
F Josh Nicholls, Saskatoon, major, charging
D Mathew Dumba, Red Deer, major, check to head
F Justin Kirsch, Moose Jaw, major, checking from behind
And then along came Saturday’s games and at least four more players can expect to hear from Doerksen:
F Andrew Johnson, Moose Jaw, major, charging
F Kale Kessy, Medicine Hat, major, check to head
D Spencer Galbraith, Lethbridge, major, check to head
F Ty Rattie, Portland, major, cross-checking
Two of those headshot majors — to Kessy and Galbraith — came in the same game.
The first two days of regular-season play also were marred by too many checking-from-behind penalties. Players simply have to stop hitting opposing players in the numbers. Please!
Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News covered Saturday’s game in which the Tigers beat the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-1. After the game he tweeted (@MHND_Steinke): “One day, someone will die due to a concussion from a head hit in hockey in #Canada. National media will jump it. Game changes forever.”
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SOME SATURDAY NOTES:
F Colin Jacobs, an offseason acquisition from the Seattle Thunderbirds, had the season’s first five-point night as the visiting Prince George Cougars beat the Everett Silvertips, 6-0. Jacobs had two goals and finished plus-4. . . . Cougars G Brett Zarowny stopped 25 shots for the shutout. The 17-year-old from Edmonton was appearing in his first WHL regular-season game. . . . Everett was without F Ryan Harrison, who now has three games left on a WHL suspension, while F Manraj Hayer completed a three-game suspension. . . . This game signaled the start of Everett’s 10th anniversary season. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers, down 2-0 with 15 minutes to play in the third period, scored three times and beat the host Kelowna Rockets, 3-2. . . . F Matt Needham got the winner on the PP at 19:27 of the third period. The Blazers were 1-2 on the PP. . . . The announced attendance was 5,562, which is somewhat shocking as the Rockets have drawn more than 6,000 fans per game for the past number of seasons. In fact, the Rockets streak of 283 sellouts came to an end. . . . Kamloops D Tyler Hansen left the game on a stretcher after an innocent-looking collision that resulted him his falling awkwardly to the ice. Hansen, 19, was released from hospital before midnight and returned to Kamloops with goaltender coach Dan De Palma. . . . The Blazers already were without G Cole Cheveldave and D Tyler Bell, both of whom were injured in a 6-5 shootout victory over the Rockets in Kamloops on Friday. . . . Bell and Hansen had been the Blazers’ starting defensive pairing on Friday. . . . Last night, Kamloops G Taran Kozun stopped 27 shots in place of Cheveldave. Ty Hamer-Jackson of the junior B Kamloops Storm was the emergency backup. . . .
The Tri-City Americans had won their last 11 home-openers before falling 5-2 to the visiting Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Americans, who were beginning their 25th WHL season, had won five straight home-openers, including two in a row against the Chiefs. . . .
D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors picked up the first fighting major of his career in a 7-1 loss to the Broncos in Swift Current. It came in his 85th regular-season game. . . . According to the online scoresheet, Rielly didn’t have an opponent as no other penalty was issued. . . . Broncos D Reece Scarlett, who was taken to hospital after absorbing a hit from behind from Moose Jaw F Justin Kirsch on Friday, didn’t play Saturday. According to Brad Brown of the Prairie Post, “Scarlett has some soft tissue damage in his neck and hand injuries.” Brown also reported there is no timeline for Scarlett’s return. . . .
 F Zane Jones scored twice to help the host Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. Jones, 18, was acquired from the Victoria Royals a week ago in a deal that had import F Alex Gogolev, 20, go the other way. . . . Jones also is a nephew of Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald, who starred for the Calgary Flames. . . . Jones told Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun that he and McDonald have chatted frequently since the deal. “I've talked to him multiple times," Jones said. "He said, ‘Love the game and keep working hard every day you're at the rink.’ "
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JUST NOTES:
Calgary F Calder Brooks, 18, is listed as week-to-week with an upper body injury. It is believed to be a shoulder injury. He had surgery on Friday but was in the rink Saturday as the Hitmen won their home-opener, 5-1, over the Kootenay Ice. . . .
Former WHL player and coach Terry Virtue is the new head coach of the Wheeling Jesuit University Cardinals, who play out Wheeling, W.Va. . . .
The Vancouver Giants have released F Taylor Makin, 20, who is expected to join the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. That move leaves the Giants with two 20-year-olds – D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen and John Neibrandt. . . . Makin played in Vancouver’s 6-4 loss to the visiting Victoria Royals on Friday night, drawing one assist and a minor penalty.
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Finnish referee Karl-Gustav Kaisla has died at the age of 68. He was the referee for the Miracle on Ice game on Feb. 22, 1980, in which the U.S. defeated Russia 4-3 in the Lake Placid Olympics.
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The NHL has fined the Detroit Red Wings – the sum is believed to be US$250,000 – for comments made by Jim Devellano, their senior vice-president and alternate governor. If you are wondering about those comments, it’s all right here.
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Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times has seen the documentary Head Games. His column is right here.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Former WHLer Kevin Kraus (@KevinMKraus), GM/head coach of the KIJHL’s Revelstoke Grizzlies: “Worst officiating I have ever seen in junior hockey, apparently you can score on a goalie with no helmet on in double OT #newrule?”
Kraus and his Grizzlies dropped a 6-5 double-overtime decision to the Eagles in Sicamous.


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Quiet warmup before Game 4

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Ryan Hanes wasn’t patrolling the centre-ice red line on behalf of his Kamloops Blazers teammates prior to Wednesday night’s WHL playoff game at Interior Savings Centre.
One night earlier, Hanes skated back and forth, just inside the Kamloops side of centre ice, chirping at the Portland Winterhawks as they prepared for the game.
Prior to last night’s game, Hanes said Winterhawks like forwards Brad Ross and Brendan Leipsic had done that same thing prior to games in Portland.
“I had enough of it,” Hanes, a Kamloops native who turned 20 on March 20, said. “I took it upon myself to try and get them off their game.”
Then he paused, smiled and added: “It didn’t quite work.”
A lot of Hanes’ chatter was aimed at Portland goaltender Mac Carruth, who finished with 38 saves in a 5-2 Winterhawks victory that gave them a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
Asked if the Winterhawks responded with anything that was printable or if it was just hockey talk, Hanes laughed and said he was told to “go eat another cheeseburger.”
“So I would just blow out my cheeks and make myself look fatter,” he said with another laugh.
Linesman Ryan Dawson shadowed Hanes through most of the warmup, telling the Blazers veteran to settle down.
WHL supervisors observed the goings-on and reported to the WHL office.
On Wednesday, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, said he spoke with Kamloops general manager Craig Bonner and “I am comfortable that there will not be a repeat performance.”
That message was relayed to Hanes through trainer Colin (Toledo) Robinson.
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When Carruth joined the Winterhawks as a 17-year-old from the NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild, he brought with him a reputation. Get in his kitchen, hockey people said, and you can get him off his game.
Teams did that and found that it worked. So they kept doing it.
These days, though, Carruth is almost a picture of serenity back there.
“It’s a competitive thing knowing that teams are going to try and get me off my game,” the Shorewood, Minn., native said. “I’m taking that as a challenge and trying to compete against it and stay focused.”
He’s doing a pretty good job of it, too.
He led the WHL with 42 regular-season victories, along with a 2.96 GAA and .904 save percentage. Those are good numbers when you’re the goaltender on a team that most often plays a high-risk offensive game.
He went into last night’s action with a 7-0 record in these playoffs, along with a 2.14 GAA and .935 save percentage.
“He has gotten better every year,” Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ general manager and head coach, said of Carruth’s on-ice battle with his emotions. “He has taken the initiative to work at it on his own. He’s really worked on it.”
Carruth was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2010 draft.
“He’s talked with Chicago guys,” Johnston added. “They want him to be emotional but they want him to be in control. It’s a fine line with those goaltenders.”
This season, Carruth has mostly stayed on the right side of that line.
Carruth said he really appreciates the play of D Troy Rutkowski, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound shot-blocker from Edmonton.
“He blocks a lot of shots. He takes a lot of pride in sacrificing his body,” Carruth said. “I think secretly he wants to be a goalie.”
Rutkowski didn’t deny that.
“I always joke with him in the room," he said with a laugh. "I tell him I’m secretly a goalie and I’ll maybe come for his job next year.”
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Bob Hall, a former WHL and NHL referee who now is an NHL officiating manager, was in attendance at Tuesday’s game. He apparently was taking a close look at veteran referee Matt Kirk. When he isn’t officiating, Kirk is a Vancouver-based lawyer.



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Yesterday, you will recall, I mentioned that there were 32,262 fans in attendance at three hockey games on B.C.’s Lower Mainland on Friday night.
Just to recap, that was 18,890 at an NHL game in Vancouver, 7,044 at an AHL game in Abbotsford and 6,328 at a WHL playoff game in Vancouver.
An emailer has suggested that the total be added to, what with there having been 1,018 fans at a BCHL playoff game in Surrey at the same time.
So make the total 33,280.
Another emailer writes:
“The better bet for a (WHL) team to relocate would be to place a team in Langley . . . great facility and no sour aftertaste . . . too early for the Dub to go back to the ‘Wack. Just a thought . . .”
The 5,500-seat Langley Event Centre is home to the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen.
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Justice never sleeps.
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, has hit F Darren Kramer, the captain of the Spokane Chiefs, with a one-game suspension for shenanigans at the end of Game 5 in Vancouver on Friday night.
The Chiefs won the game, 5-1.
Kramer was given a roughing minor at 18:02 of the third period. At 20:00, he was penalized for roughing and for leaving the penalty box.
He won’t play tonight in Spokane as the teams meet in Game 6. The Chiefs hold a 3-2 lead.
Should Vancouver win, Game 7 will be played Wednesday in Vancouver.
The Tri-City Americans, who have to be hoping for a seventh game, await the winner of the series.
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A Saturday night with nary a WHL game.
What are we to do?
Well, there was ch-ch-ching moment in the QMJHL, where Gilles Courteau, the commissioner, is certain to add to the league’s coffers after some comments made by Leo-Guy Morrissette, the owner of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
There was a time when the Morrissette brothers ruled the QMJHL, or at least tried to, but now Leo-Guy is the only one left. It’s nice that he helps out the media at times by reverting to the old days when owners, GMs and coaches weren’t afraid to speak their minds, even if they were putting feet in mouth at the same time.
In this instance, Morrissette is alleging that some owners are spending too much money, making it impossible for others to compete.
Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports wraps up this story right here.
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Here’s a good ready, nay, a great read for you. It’s been 50 years since Emile Griffith pummelled Benny (The Kid) Paret to death in a boxing match on live television. Dan Klores looks back right here in a story from the pages of The New York Times. It's amazing how some of the best of sports writing involves boxing or horse racing.
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Some interesting numbers from Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Kootenay Ice.
On his blog (jeffhollick.blogspot.com), he points out that the Ice, the WHL’s defending champion, was 19-5-3 on Nov. 30 and was riding a six-game winning streak.
After which the roof fell in.
From that point through the end of the regular season, the Ice was 17-21-7 and never put together more than back-to-back victories.
Of course, the Ice then was swept from the playoffs by the Edmonton Oil Kings, which means Kootenay won only 17 of its final 49 games.
Hollick also points out that the Ice lost 25 games in which it led or was tied in the third period.
It’s apparent that, as things started to slide, the Ice became a very fragile team, something one might think wouldn’t happen to a team that was coming off a championship season.
But it just goes to show the difference between success and failure at this level can be a very fine line, indeed.
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ON THE MOVE:
G Kent Simpson of the Everett Silvertips has signed an ATO with the Rockford IceHogs, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. Simpson, 20, was a second-round selection by Chicago in the 2010 NHL draft. . . . F Shane McColgan of the Kelowna Rockets will be joining the Connecticut Whale, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers. He was a fifth-round selection by the Rangers in the 2011 NHL draft. . . . If was a no-brainer, but it seems that F Troy Bourke of the Prince George Cougars has been the first player selected to play for Canada at the IIHF U18 World Championship in Brno and Znojmo, Czech Republic, April 12-22. . . . Two graduating members of the Calgary Hitmen have pretty much decided to go to school, F Jimmy Bubnick to the U of Saskatchewan, which is in his hometown of Saskatoon, and D Brock Sutherland to the U of Manitoba. Sutherland is from Brandon. . . .
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IN THE PROS:
G Calvin Pickard of the Seattle Thunderbirds came on in relief and stopped all eight shots he saw as his Lake Erie Monsters dropped a 4-0 decison to the host Texas Stars in an AHL game last night. Pickard came on with 16:59 left in the third period. D Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades also played for the Monsters. He was minus-1 with one shot on goal and a tripping minor. . . . G Damien Ketlo, who finished up with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, stopped 44 shots as the visiting Colorado Eagles beat the Las Vegas Wranglers 4-3 in an ECHL shootout. Ketlo also stymied four Las Vegas shooters in the circus.
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And, finally, for all the hockey fans out there, right here is Jim Matheson’s Hockey World from the pages of the Edmonton Journal.


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Interesting day in the WHL office

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers will be without defenceman Austin Madaisky for Games 3 and 4 of their first-round WHL playoff series with the Victoria Royals.
The Blazers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 going into Game 3 tonight at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. The fourth game is scheduled for there on Wednesday. If necessary, Game 5 will be played at Interior Savings Centre on Friday.
Madaisky, the Blazers best all-around blue-liner, was suspended Monday for two games for a hit that occurred early in the Blazers’ 7-4 victory on Saturday night.
The play in question occurred at 1:28 of the first period when Madaisky checked Victoria forward Zane Jones. Madaisky was given a checking-to-the-head minor penalty for the hit.
At some point after the game, the Royals requested supplemental discipline from the WHL office, meaning they sent in video of the hit and $500. If the league acts on it, as was the case here, a team gets its money back. If not, it pays the money as a fine, which is what happened to the Regina Pats when they requested supplemental discipline for a hit by Moose Jaw Warriors forward Cody Beach in Game 1 of their series. (Beach was suspended for one game Monday, for a comment he directed at the Regina bench during Game 2.)
The Royals had started the series’ first game on Friday by going hard to the body. Madaisky said last night from Victoria that he was expecting the same thing in Game 2, so he was prepared to counter that.
“For the first three or four minutes of (Game 1), it seemed that they were just trying to run us out of the building,” Madaisky said. “The energy level was getting pretty high. I was expecting to be one of the guys they were targeting . . .”
When Game 2 started, he said he “wanted to go out there and take the body to show them that we weren’t going to shy away . . . and it just happened.”
Asked to describe the play, Madaisky recalled:
“It was a 50-50 puck that bounced off the boards and I saw Jones coming. I know he’s one of their players who will always take the body. It seemed that he was reaching for the puck . . . he’s a left-handed player . . . he kind of opened himself up and was in a bit of a vulnerable position.
“I watched the replay and I did make contact with his head. I mean, I didn’t mean to . . . it’s not like I was targeting his head. It just happened to be in a position where I did clip it a bit.”
Jones, a 17-year-old freshman from Olds, Alta., is 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds. He had 30 points, including 14 goals, and 64 penalty minutes in 62 regular-season games. He wasn’t injured on the play.
Madaisky, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, added that he “was definitely surprised to get two games.” But he had been forewarned by head coach Guy Charron and associate coach Dave Hunchak.
“I was told to expect something,” Madaisky said. “I was told to expect one, maybe two, and it happened to be two.”
Madaisky, who turned 20 on Jan. 30, said he was disappointed with the league’s decision.
“Especially at this time of year,” he said. “It’s never fun sitting out. You kind of feel like letting the team down by not being in the lineup. Hopefully, we’re a deep enough squad that we have guys who are able to come into the lineup and do a good job.”
Madaisky played quite well in the first two games, picking up three assists and going plus-4. He and Tyler Hansen have been used in a shutdown role for much of the season, playing against the opposition’s best offensive line. Madaisky also plays a point on the first power-play unit and kills penalties.
Madaisky’s absence means Landon Cross, a 17-year-old in his first WHL season, is likely to check into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three straight games.
This is the second suspension of the season for Madaisky, who served a two-game sentence after taking a cross-checking major against the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 18.
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Madaisky’s suspension was one of six handed out by Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, on Monday.
* F Manraj Hayer of the Everett Silvertips drew a ‘tbd’ after taking a double minor for checking from behind against the host Tri-City Americans on Saturday night. The teams are scheduled to play in Everett tonight and Wednesday. Tri-City D Drydn Dow, who was hit by Hayer, suffered an injury to his right arm on the play and isn’t expected to play again in this series.
* Everett F Ryan Harrison also won’t play tonight after taking a one-game sentence for an interference major he incurred on Saturday.
* The Silvertips also were fined $500 for being in “violation of the WHL Social Media and Networking Policy” after Saturday’s game. That was for a tweet by Everett F Cody Fowlie, who was ejected with a checking-from-behind major on Saturday. The tweet contained a couple of obscenities, one of which referred to “bullshit refing.” Interestingly, Fowlie wasn’t suspended for the major penalty.
* F Brett Bulmer of the Kelowna Rockets is on a ‘tbd’ after taking a kneeing major in Game 2 against the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday. He won’t play in Game 3 tonight in Kelowna. Bulmer’s penalty came for a hit on Portland D William Wrenn, who is the Winterhawks’ captain. The WHL may be waiting to see if he plays tonight before deciding on the length of Bulmer’s suspension.
* F Oliver Gabriel of the Winterhawks will sit out tonight after being suspended for one game. He took a slashing minor on Saturday, and then was given a game misconduct. At this point, no one is saying what he did that warranted a game misconduct.
* F Cody Beach of the Moose Jaw Warriors was hit with a one-game suspension for a “derogatory comment to the Regine bench” during Game 2 of that series on Saturday. Interestingly, the Pats had requested supplemental discipline for a Beach-delivered hit during Game 1, a request that was turned down by the WHL. That cost the Pats $500.
Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald that he “received an email from Richard Doerksen saying that (Regina head coach) Pat Conacher had sent in a complaint to the league after the game regarding something Cody had said to their bench and that he asked the league to review the matter,”
No one seems to be too eager to repeat what Beach said and the Warriors chose not to make him available to the media on Monday.
“It was something we thought was over the limit of what would be classified as hockey talk,” Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post.
This is Beach’s fourth suspension of the season. He will have sat out 11 games in suspensions when he misses tonight’s game in Regina.
According to Gourlie, the Warriors are 8-1-1 with Beach serving suspensions.
The Warriors tied the series with an 8-1 victory in Game 2. Beach had two goals and an assist, and was selected as the game’s first star.
Meanwhile, Scott Sepich, writing for Yahoo! Sports, points out that while Fowlie’s tweet was taken down about an hour after it was posted, a tweet from Everett F Jordyn Boyd remains in cyberspace.
That tweet was posted after Game 2 and reads: “This is actually a joke. Never seen a team dive so much in my life.”
And to think the playoffs are only a few days old!

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Taylor Vause of the Swift Current Broncos, with the sweater that he designed.
(Photo courtesy of Swift Current Broncos)

ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Mr. Commissioner, do you read all the comments left by fans on the WHL’s Facebook page?
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The Swift Current Broncos will wear themed sweaters on Saturday when the Regina Pats came calling.
The sweaters were designed by Broncos captain Taylor Vause, who obviously is rather talented when it comes to graphic design, and remembers the four Broncos who died when the team’s bus crashed on Dec. 30, 1986.
Leading up to Saturday night, the Broncos will auction off the game-worn jerseys with all proceeds going to the team’s education fund.
Fans will be able to bid online (www.scbroncos.com) or by phone (306-773-1509) leading up to the game, or in the lobby of the Credit Union iPlex during the game. The bidding will start at $150 for each jersey, with additional bids accepted in $10 increments.
A live auction is scheduled to be held after the game. That auction will involve sweaters worn by Vause, Andy Blanke, Coda Gordon and Graham Black.

All of which allows me to plug a book that is to be published by Dundurn Press in November.
Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos tells the story of the team that survived that horrific bus accident and went on to win the 1989 Memorial Cup championship with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Blades in Saskatoon.
Yes, I was involved in writing the book, along with Leesa Culp, who happened to witness the accident, and Bob Wilkie, a defenceman who was on that bus and who also was on the Memorial Cup-winning team.
You may pre-order the book from right here at amazon.ca or McNally Robinson.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s minister of justice, delivered something of a wakeup call on Tuesday morning by handing out 25 games in suspensions to four players.
D Brennan Yadlowski of the Everett Silvertips will watch for 10 games after receiving a game misconduct on Friday in Portland. “The player’s off-ice actions following removal from game in the third period were unacceptable,” read Doerksen’s written reasons.
F Brendan Hurley of the Medicine Hat Tigers and F Brett Lyon of the Kelowna Rockets each drew a six-game sentence for hits that left opponents concussed.
Hurley hit D Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday. The Blades have said Siemens is likely to be out 10 days. “The player checked the opponent, who was in a vulnerable position, from behind,” Doerksen wrote. “The opponent was injured on the play. The player has received several checking from behind penalties this season.”
Lyon delivered a check to the head of Cougars F Jarrett Fontaine on Friday in Prince George. “Primary contact was made to the head of a vulnerable player,” Doerksen wrote. “This is the third suspension the player has received in the past three seasons for this type of hit.”
Lyon was suspended under supplemental discipline as there wasn’t a penalty on the play. Neither Lyon nor Fontaine played in Saturday’s rematch in Prince George.
Finally, F Kristians Pelss of the Edmonton Oil Kings was suspended for three games for a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday.
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So . . . let us try and piece together the Yadlowski suspension.
As stated above, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, wrote: “The player’s off-ice actions following removal from game in the third period were unacceptable.”
Yadlowski was given a major and game misconduct at 19:41 of the third period. That was after a fight with F Jason Trott, who received an instigating minor, fighting major and game misconduct.
So what happened after that? Well, it seems that Yadlowski may have gone somewhere he wasn’t welcome.
Scott Sepich, a freelancer who follows the Winterhawks, tweeted: “Yadlowski apparently tried to enter Portland's dressing room, upset with Portland's Jason Trott, with whom he had just fought.”
There may be some truth to that as Portland F Taylor Peters, again via Twitter, offered his services as tour guide.
"If the guy wants a tour of the room all he has to do is ask,” Peters tweeted.
There were other tweets, too:
From Portland D Troy Rutkowski: “@BigBadYads keep the ginger rage down a bit sir #deepbreaths #gingersdohavesouls”
Yadlowski, 20, responded with “not a fan of getting jumped #classless."
Rutkowski and Yadlowski, by the way, are pals from Edmonton.
The Silvertips played the Royals in Victoria last night and Everett head coach Mark Ferner confirmed before the game that Yadlowski, indeed, had made his way into Portland’s dressing room.
“It was silly,” Ferner told Travis Huntington, the radio voice of the Silvertips, on the pregame show. “The game was over . . . (late in the game we were) 4 on 4, they sent over a player who maybe got three or four shifts. . . . (Yadlowski) said the kid jumped him. Yads took his skates off and ended up going in their dressing room.”
In Portland’s Memorial Coliseum, the dressing rooms are on opposite sides with an expanse of concrete between them. Thus, Yadlowski had to take off his skates to make the trek. He must have been one upset dude.
Of course, as always seems to happen in these instances, Doerksen had the last word.
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JUST NOTES:
The WHL held meetings in Las Vegas on the weekend, it being Super Bowl weekend and the Las Vegas WHL franchise and that city’s hotels needing the help that might be generated from holding meetings there. . . . You are free to visit the Las Vegas Sun’s website for coverage of the meetings. . . . If you don’t find any coverage, it will be because the WHL believes in that old saying that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. . . .
The hits just keep coming for the Red Deer Rebels. They now have lost F Colten Mayor, 18, for up to four weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . . Mayor, in his third season, has 38 points, including 14 goals, in 52 games this season. . . . He is from St. Alberta, Alta. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks will be without D William Wrenn, their captain, for another couple of weeks. He suffered a broken bone in his right hand during a Jan. 28 game in Seattle. He should be back in two to three weeks. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie, who continues to lead the scoring race, took a rap on the head in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants and hasn’t played since. He is listed on the WHL injury report as being out for another week with an “upper-body” injury. . . .
In the BCHL, the Penticton Vees dumped the host Chilliwack Chiefs 7-0 on Tuesday night to run their winning streak to a league-record 30 games. That broke the record of 29 they had shared with the 1989-90 New Westminster Royals. . . .
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Edmonton, F Michael St. Croix broke a 1-1 tie at 7:42 of the third period and the Oil Kings went on to beat the Kootenay Ice, 3-1. . . . F Sam Reinhart scored the game’s first goal, his 23rd, at 11:36 of the first, via the PP. . . . His brother, Griffin, got that one back for Edmonton at 17:52 of the second. . . . St. Croix got his 34th on the PP. . . . F Rhett Rachinski put it away with an empty-netter at 19:16. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart (foot) returned from a five-game absence. That meant all three Reinhart brothers were in the game, Sam and Max with the Ice and Griffin with the Oil Kings. . . . Griffin holds bragging rights as the Oil Kings have won three of four meetings this season. . . . Sam, who isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2014, has 23 goals. He is trying to become the first 16-year-old with 30 goals since F Brett Connolly scored 30 for the Prince George Cougars in 2008-09. Connolly was the first to do it since F Patrick Marleau scored 32 for the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1995-96. . . . The game was a rare midweek morning affair, with a start time of 11:30 a.m. Attendance was announced as 8,850. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 32 shots, six more than Edmonton’s Laurent Brossoit. . . . The Oil Kings pulled into a tie with the Tri-City Americans for second place in the overall standings. Both teams are two points behind the Kamloops Blazers. The Americans visit Kamloops tonight. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Cole Grbavac broke a 3-3 tie at 8:10 of the third period and the Tigers went on to a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 40 shots, including 15 in the first period and 17 in the second. . . . Grbavac, the Tigers’ captain, has nine goals. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 49th goal on a PP at 17:49 of the third. He has 49 goals in 48 games. . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference and now are three points ahead of the Hitmen. . . . Medicine Hat was 3-for-3 on the PP. . . .

In Victoria, the Everett Silvertips climbed out of the Western Conference basement with a 3-2 victory over the Royals. . . . The Silvertips are three points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold down the conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, and five behind the seventh-place Royals. . . . The Silvertips play in Victoria again tonight. . . . F Cody Fowlie, with his ninth goal, and D Dominik Bittner, with his third, gave Everett a 2-0 lead late in the second period. . . . Victoria F Ben Walker scored his seventh at 5:24 of the third, but Everett F Ryan Harrison, with his 14th, got that one back at 11:41. . . . F Brandon Mageen got the home team to within one with his 19th goal at 19:12 of the third on the PP. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 29 shots. . . . The Silvertips had F Carson Stadnyk, an eighth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft, in their lineup for the first time. Stadnyk, who turned 17 yesterday, has 55 points in 38 games with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Everett was without D Brennan Yadlowski, who was suspended for 10 games earlier in the day. In his absence, D Josh Caron had an ‘A’ on his sweater. . . . The Royals were without D Zach Habscheid (ankle), who was injured while unloading the team bus on Sunday and may be out for a while. Marc Habscheid, the Royals’ GM/head coach and Zach’s father, told the Victoria Times Colonist that “it’s not good . . . it might be the season.” . . . Habscheid said he has only had two games all season when he has had a healthy corps of defencemen. . . . Victoria did welcome back D Tyler Stahl, who hadn’t played since the fourth game of the season. He took a headshot from then-Prince George Cougars F Charles Inglis on Oct. 1 and has been out with a concussion. Inglis drew a 10-game suspension for the hit; he now is with the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Stahl didn’t finish, however, and now is looking at a suspension. He took a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on F Jordyn Boyd at 4:11 of the second period.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Trent Lofthouse, Everett.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave: “I just dropped my laptop off the boat...its a dell, rolling in the deep.”

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The Lethbridge Hurricanes helped out with Operation Christmas Child on Thursday.
(Photos courtesy Lethbridge Hurricanes)

The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who have won a couple in a row and have vacated the Eastern Conference basement, got December off to a festive start.
On Thursday, according to a news release, Cam Braes, Damien Ketlo, Brody Sutter, Landon Oslanski, Brady Ramsay, Spencer Galbraith, Tyler Kizuik, Graham Hood, Nick Buonassisi, Juraj Bezuch, Liam Liston, Phil Tot and Albin Blomqvist lent a helping hand to Richard and Lisa Henry and Rev. Brian Palsky at University Drive Alliance Church for Operation Christmas Child. The church . . . is the regional collection centre for Southern Alberta and in total 6,746 shoe boxes were collected from Lethbridge and surrounding area for the global Christmas exchange program.
“The program encourages churches, children and adults to pack shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items and school supplies to be given to thousands of children living in impoverished areas all over the world. In the coming days, the shoe boxes will be sent to Calgary and then distributed around the world.”
Operation Christmas Child is a terrific program and is attracting attention from more and more sports teams. In Kamloops, for example, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s soccer team has helped out for a number of years now and players were wrapping boxes just last week.
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F Jonas Knutsen of the Prince Albert Raiders will play for Norway at the IIHF U-20 World championshp (Division 1, Group A) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Dec. 11-17. Also in the tournament are Germany, Slovenia, Belarus, Austria and Great Britain. . . . Knutsen, who has nine points and 36 penalty minutes, will leave Monday. . . .
F Marek Tvrdon of the Vancouver Giants, who is the WHL’s highest-scoring freshman, will play for Slovakia in the World Junior Championship. Shoulder woes limited Tvrdon to 12 games last season, so he is considered a rookie. He has 35 points, 14 of them goals, in 28 games this season. Last season, he had 11 points in those 12 games. . . .
A source tells me that three WHL teams are involved in discussions on a transaction that, if it comes to pass, will cause some big-time buzz. I’m not one to speculate on what players might be involved — and there are trade talks going on all the time — but trust me when I tell you this one would give people something to talk about for a while. . . .
Saw this on the WHL website in the wee hours of today: “Brendan Gallagher and the Kamloops Blazers host Alex Forsberg and the Prince George Cougars for a B.C. Division match-up on Friday night.” . . . The Vancouver Giants and the Blazers have been known to make the odd trade, but I don’t think Gallagher is headed to Kamloops any time soon. . . . I’m sure the writer meant Brendan Ranford, and I’ve been there before. Just ask Matt Needham of the Blazers how many times I have referred to him as Mike.
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Congratulations to old friend Andy Murray on his induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
Murray, now the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos, will go into the Builder’s category. Also going into the Hall of Fame will be Raimo Helminen, a six-time Olympian for Finland, Russian star Pavel Bure, defenceman Phil Housley of the U.S., and Czech star Milan Novy.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for May 20 in Helsinki.
How long have I known Murray? Since he was an aspiring quarterback with the Brandon University Bobcats football team. Oh, what a team that was. Right, Garry Davidson?
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The QMJHL has revealed its social media policy. If you’re interested, you are able to check it out on the QMJHL website.
But here is the part that deals with disciplinary measures . . .
“The following are examples of conduct through social media and networking mediums that are considered violations of this policy and which may be subject to disciplinary action by the QMJHL, at the discretion of the Commissioner:
“- Statements which are critical of League personnel, its programs, employees, on-ice or off-ice officials, players, members, owners or operations staff, sponsors or any other actors.
“- Divulging confidential information that may include, but is not limited to the following: trade talk or other player movement, medical history (injuries or other), game plans or strategies and any other information that is deemed confidential.
“- Sharing or divulging photos, videos or comments which promote negative influences or criminal behaviour, including but not limited to: drug use, alcohol abuse, public intoxication, sexual exploitation, etc.
“- Online activity that contradicts the current policies of the QMJHL.
“- Inappropriate, derogatory, racist or sexist comments of any kind that contradict the policies outlined by the QMJHL on these matters.”
Good luck to the QMJHL in enforcing this thing. I might suggest that the QMJHL is going to need to hire a full-time babysitter.
Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that the WHL had the same policy in place, say, one night this week. Let’s say it was Tuesday night, when every player in the WHL who wasn’t involved in a game was watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion (?) show on TV. (Those who were playing that night likely recorded the show.) And most of those viewers, if not all of them, were Tweeting about it.
And let’s just say that the rules called for the league to suspend the players for the remarks. That being the case, the WHL would have had to postpone a few games this weekend due to a shortage of players.
But having said that, some of the WHL’s players have been blessed with great wit!
And judging by some of the tweets I saw, a whole lot of them fell in love on Tuesday night.
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In Edmonton last night, D Mark Pysyk drew three assists to lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Oil Kings ran their winning streak to five, while ending Calgary’s at four. . . . F Tyler Maxwell scored twice for Edmonton. He has six points, including four goals, in four games since being acquired from the Everett Silvertips. He is plus-8 in those four games. . . . The victory lifted Edmonton into a tie for second in the Eastern Conference, with the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors. They are four points in back of the Kootenay Ice.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Martin Gernat, Edmonton
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun writes today that Wheat Kings F Mike Ferland and Vancouver Giants D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen drew ‘tbd’ suspensions for their roles in a game-ending schmozzle Wednesday in Brandon.
The stuff hit the fan as teams were leaving their benches at game’s end.
Here’s what Henderson wrote:
The melee broke out as the teams left their benches at the end of the game. Wheat Kings Eric Roy and Darian Dziurzynski and Giants David Musil and Jordan Martinook were also assessed fighting majors and game misconducts.
Western Hockey League vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen said Ferland and Vannieuwenhuizen were punished because they were on the bench to end the game, and not legally on the ice.
“Neither was on the ice,” Doerksen said. “Of the other (penalized) players, all had been on the ice.”
The league revoked the game misconducts for Roy, Dziurzynski, Musil and Martinook, while Dziurzynski and Martinook also had their majors turned into double minors for roughing.
Decisions on the length of the suspensions and team fines should be made today.
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With fighting majors turned into double minors, that means it wasn’t a multi-fight situation, which means there likely won’t be fines issued. That means we were guilty of premature ch-ch-ching the other day.
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On the subject of ch-ch-ching, to the five people who have taken time to make donations this week, thank you. . . . If you’re a regular here, feel free to click on the DONATE button and help the cause. Thanks in advance!
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Laura Robinson, who wrote the book Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sport, has written a scathing essay about hazing and sexual abuse in football and hockey.
Football in the United States and hockey in Canada have much to answer for, she writes.
And she is correct. Because if you think the hazing incident that involved the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives is a one-off, you have your head buried in the sand.
Robinson also brings up an interesting point regarding a Hockey Canada rule that may well have been ignored in the Neepawa situation.
Robinson’s essay is right here.
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Wondering how the coaching thing came down with the Anaheim Ducks? Check out Jon Rosen’s take on it all right here. If you want a thorough look at it, this one is for you.
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For today’s good read, we take you to SI.co and writer Stu Hackel. He chatted with Scotty Bowman, who has some interesting comments on the state of the game today and the recent spate of coaching changes in the NHL. That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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And the 2013 Memorial Cup goes to . . .

This is a big day for the WHL as the board of governors will vote on the host team for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
As well, the WHL is expected to join the NHL, OHL, QMJHL and KHL by announcing that it will begin using video to explain the lengthier suspensions that are being handed out this season.
First, the Memorial Cup . . .
The chase began with five teams involved. However, the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince George Cougars were eliminated when the list was trimmed to three. That leaves the Kelowna Rockets, Red Deer Rebels and Saskatoon Blades to make final presentations today.
Red Deer has to be the sentimental favourite, if only because the Memorial Cup hasn’t been decided in Alberta since the Regina Pats won it in the Calgary Corral in 1974. The Enmax Centrium, the home of the Rebels, seats 5,735 with standing room for 1,000. But there are plans to expand the facility to 7,000 seats and to add more corporate boxes.
The Centrium will be home to the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women’s curling championship.
Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner and president who is head coach of the NHL’s Calgary Flames, will be in Calgary today. He will be at the meeting, which means he will miss a Flames’ practice in Montreal.
The Rockets were the host team for the 2004 Memorial Cup, which they won. That tournament was as well run as any that have been held.
The Rockets’ home, Prospera Centre, seats 6,007, with standing room for 500.
The Memorial Cup last was held in Saskatoon in 1989, when the Swift Current Broncos beat the Blades in overtime, on Tim Tisdale’s goal, in the championship game. The Blades’ home, Credit Union Centre, can seat 15,195 fans.
Jack Brodsky, the Blades’ governor and president, is one of the WHL’s longest-serving owners. There has been speculation that Brodsky made be stepping aside, or at least moving into a role in which he will be less involved, after this season. That may well be in the minds of some of his fellow governors as the presentations and voting take place today.
In the end, however, it may come down to money, and wouldn’t that be a surprise. With expenses showing no signs of slowing down and some teams losing fistfuls of money (see: Broncos, Swift Current), it could be that the team that guarantees the biggest profit will be the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup.
The 2012 tournament is scheduled for Shawinigan, Que.
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As for the use of video to explain the lengthier suspensions, it is hard to imagine that the WHL won’t take this step after the QMJHL announced Tuesday that is going down that road. The OHL has been using video for two or three weeks now.
The QMJHL said it will use video presentations to explain suspensions of three games or more. Those videos will be posted on the QMJHL website, with explanations in English and French.
"We want to be more transparent and explain the reasons behind the disciplinary decisions," QMJHL president Gilles Courteau said in a statement. "With video becoming increasingly prominent, we must take the necessary steps to make sure that our process is better understood."
The QMJHL has had to issue only one suspension longer than three games this season. That was a five-game sentence to D Etienne Boutet of the Rimouski Oceanic for a check to the head of F Thomas Flynn of the Moncton Wildcats.
(By the way, the Kontinental Hockey League has announced that it, too, will use video to explain suspensions.)
On Tuesday, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, who handles discipline told me via email: “When our meetings conclude (Wednesday), we will advise our position on this matter.”
Since the start of the preseason, Doerksen has doled out suspensions totalling 72 games to 21 players. F Joshua Smith of the Prince George Cougars will be suspended this week for a kneeing major and game misconduct he took Monday in Moose Jaw.
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The OHL handed out two 10-game suspensions on Tuesday, hitting D Kyle Hope of the Oshawa Generals and F Josh Shalla of the Saginaw Spirit, both for penalties incurred in games on Friday.
Hope took a charging major and game misconduct, while Shalla took a major and game misconduct for a hit to the head.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter